At the Cornerstone Church in Cochran, they call the Williams family a blessing and say they’ll be sorely missed.
Wendell and Jain Williams first started coming to the church a year and a half ago at the urging of a neighbor.
Once the arrive they hit the ground running, according to Pastor Stephen White and his wife Jeanne.
“He was always eager to help, land a hand, regardless of what the task was, whether it was painting or doing some sort of construction, he was always involved, being available, encouraging, willing to do whatever was needed,” says Pastor White.
They say Jain was excellent with the children working in the Sunday School every Sunday and the nursery a few times a month.
“Just to see their response to her, because kids know whether you really care about them or not. Kids and animals know. You could tell they felt safe with her, and that they felt her love,” Jeanne says about Jain.
White says the two got involved immediately with the church and contributed a lot in just a year and a half.
Jeanne says the kids called Jan Williams grandma or granny.
Their strong presence is what made this week’s news so tough for their church.
“When we got out there, and heard just the horribleness of it, it was hard for me to hold myself together,” Jeanne says about when she and her husband arrived at the Williams’ home on Wednesday morning.
Pastor White called the crime shocking and losing two church members so suddenly and violently was truly unexpected.
But, they’re trying to focus on the positive.
“They lived the life, which is so important, they represented Jesus in the community,” White says.
On Sunday, Cornerstone will open its doors as usual, but two seats on the left side of the stage in the Williams favorite pew will be empty.
Even in the face of what they called true evil, they're going to pray for the families of the teenagers arrested in connection to the case and hope light comes from this tragedy,